Thursday, February 24, 2011

Theatre veteran and recognizable character actor Austin Pendleton is finally getting something like his due at the age of 70 during quite a busy year. Between directing a major Off Broadway hit (Three Sisters at CSC) and a Steppenwolf hit (now bound-for-B'way), Lisa D'Amour's Detroit, in addition to currently starring in (and directing) a little showcase staging of Tennesee Williams' Small Craft Warnings. Then Lincoln Center is producing playwright-Pendleton's reworking of Shaw's Candida (called The Minister's Wife).

And as if this actor, playwright, director has not been ubiquitous enough in both New York and Chicago (where he's a Steppenwolf ensemble member), he also remains a popular teacher, as the NY Post attests in a class visit.

And as is evident in his recent Time Out feature interview, here is an artist who exemplifies the spirit necessary to keep the American Theatre going in such hard times--using your film and tv earnings to subsidize a very small-paying stage vocation, fueled by pure love for the artform, genuine boundless enthusiasm, and an incredible amount of energy for someone of any age.

And if you still can't get enough of the guy (and I know I can't) here's a nice A/V Club interview from last year, and a trailer for an upcoming documentary!

I'm a big fan, too--and I had the pleasure of writing about him twice when I worked at TDF. The piece here has a great anecdote about his first impressions of Steppenwolf http://www.tdf.org/TDF_Article.aspx?id=148And this one is about his Vanya at CSC a few years backhttp://www.tdf.org/TDF_Article.aspx?id=232Just for those who can't get enough. Thought he was great in Cormac McCarty's "Sunset Limited," btw.

He's a gem. I interned at Circle Rep when he was the AD for a brief period. The theatre closed shortly after his tenure, but through no fault of his--he was the only bright spot in the dark, bankrupt days of that venerable institution.